sheets



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A J. REESE. MAUHINE FOR ROLLING HOOPS, SHEETS, 0R HOLLOW CYLINDERS. vNo. 276,284r

PatentedvA'pr..Z4,1883.

(No Modell) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. REESE. MACHINE FOR ROLLING HOOPS, SHEETS, 0R HOLLOW CYLINDERS. No276,284. Patented Apr. 24, 18881 WIEESEE. IlD/EFEEIK f r j s t e e 7 h S8 L 6 e h S 3 H S E E R J (No Model.)

MACHINE FOR ROLLING HOOPS, SHBETS,. 0R HOLLOW CYLINDERS.

PatentedApLM, 1883.

N. PETERS. mlv-Lithugraphar. Wflhinflml. D. Q

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

. JACOB REESE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR ROLLING HOOPS,.SHEETS, R HOLLOW CYLINDERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 276,284, dated April24, 1883. Application filed October 11,1880. (No model.) i D To all whomit may concern Be it known that I, JAooE REEsE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Pit-tsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and use- .ful Improvements inMachines; for Rolling Metal Hoops, Sheets, Plates, and Bands; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanyingdrawings,form: ing a part thereof, in which- Figure 1 indicates a frontelevation, partly in section, of a two-high mill and its adjustingapparatus, used in rolling tubular ingots into continuous metallicbands. Fig. 2 indicates view of details of same, showing a portion ofthe upper removable roll, its bearings,

. a slide-rest upon which the roll and bearings are drawn when placingthe same into or withdrawing them from the housings, and also the meansof securing the removable roll and bearings in the housings. Fig. 3indicates an end view of the neck of the upper roll, with its movablebearings resting upon the slide rest or stand. Fig. 4. indicatesan endview of an annular ring or collar used in securing the removablehearings in position. Fig. 5 indicates a face view of the locking-platefor securing the annular ring, the roll, and its hearings in position.Fig. 6 indicates a face view of a -locking-pin used to connecttheremovable roll tothe clutch for entering or withdrawing the same.Fig. 7 indicates a side'elevation'of it an open housing, showing endview of the rolls,

indicates a side elevation of the same.

and showing some of the details of construction of the mill. Fig. 8indicates a front elevation of a three-high mill for rolling tubularmanufacture of sheets, plates, hoops, or bands of greater length thancan be produced by the ordinary method of manufacture; to enlarge thecapacity of plants adapted for such manufacture and, finally, to producea finer quality of finished product.

bolted securely in the usual manner to the bed-plate B. p 7

O and 0 indicate the balance-rods, which are provided in the usualmanner with weighted levers at their lower ends, to cause them to pressupward against the carriage'c of the upper roll, D, and force it upwardwhen the ti ghtenin g-screws d and d are released, as will be readilyunderstood by the skilled mechanic. These balance-rods G and Oareprovided with stop-nuts, as shown in Fig. 7, which are adjusted in sucha manner as to bear against the lower portion of the housing A, andrelieve the upward pressure against the carriage 0 when the upper rolland its bearing are brought up into line with the enlarged opening ofthe housing A, in order to admit their removal from the machine. ThehousingA is also pro vided with similar balance-rods, which are providedwith stop nuts, and which press constantly upward against the carriageof the upper roll until it and-its bearings are brought into line toallow the removal of the roll and its bearing through the housing A.

D indicates the lower roll, which isjonrnaled in brasses mounted iii thecarriages d and 61. These carriages are provided with rollers E and E,which are journaled in their lower surface, and which bear upontheinclined surfaces of the wedge-bar f when it is forced under orwithdrawnfrom them by means of the action of the hydraulic ram F.

E and E indicate similar rollers, which are mounted in the lower-portionof the housings, and which bear against the lower and straight side ofthe wedge-barf, so that it may be forced backward and forward to elevateor depress the lower roll by the action of its inclines upon the rollersE and E.

key J to beinserted when the roll has stopped at any point of itsrevolution, thus greatly'facilitating the locking operation.

K indicates a direct-acting steam-engine having its piston attached tothe clutch, in order to force the same backward and forward when it isdesired to enter or withdraw the roll.

and its hearing from the mill, or insert them into position in the same.

Fig. 2 indicates a view of the means em ployed to keep the upper rolland the carriage c and its rider in place when inserted. M indicates anannular ring, which is made of sufficient width to cause its outer endto projecta short distance beyond the end of the neck of the roll D wheninserted in position, as shown in Fig. 2. N indicates a plate forsecuring the annular ring M in position. This plate is dropped into theslot R in the rest or stand H when it is desired to secure the upper orremovable roll and bearing in position for the of the rolls to playvertically in it, and it is provided with ordinary side brasses, inorder that the brasses may remain in place when the upper rollis'withdrawn. The housing A is constructed differently, as shown in Fig.7, having an opening at its upper portion of suf-. iicient Width toallow the removal through it of the upper roll, the carriage c, and itsrider when they are drawn out upon the slide rest or stand H by means ofthe clutch. The tightening-screws d and d may be provided with smallpulleys at their upper ends, and may be operated by a friction-belt, inorder to keep the top roll down upon the metal when the lower roll islowered by the action of the inclined surfaces of the wedge-bar fuponthe rollers E and E.

Figs. 8,9, and 10 indicate a three-high mill, which is especiallyadapted to the requirements ofmy process when light work is to beproduced. A and A indicate the housings, which are both provided withordinary side brasses.

B indicates the bed-plate. D indicates the upper roll; D, the lower, andD indicates the middle roll or mandrel. This center roll is made ofuniform diameter throughout, audits ends are journa1ed in side brassesset into the housings, as is usual in such cases in threehigh mills, andis kept in position by means of a plate, N, bolted to the housing A, andby the plate N and locking device described in reference to the two-highmill.

Figs. 9 and. 10 indicate the construction of the housings more fully,showing the opening ofjnst sufficient width to allow the withdrawal ofthe mandrel, which is done, as in the preceding case, by means of theclutch and apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and described in reference to theformer mill. F indicates the hydraulic ram for forcing the lower rolltoward the upper, as described in reference to the preceding mechanism.

The operation of my machine is as follows, to Wit: By removing the plateand ring N M the neck of the rollD is exposed. The clutch I is made toembrace said neck and the pin J inserted. The roll is'then withdrawnfrom the machine, and a hot, hollow, cylindrical ingot having its centeropening of uniform diameter and its walls of uniform thickness isinserted opposite the opening in the housing A, and the roll D isreturned to its normal position through the opening in said ingot. Thepin J is then withdrawn, the clutch I disconnected from the neck of theroll, the ring M slipped over said neck, and the plate N slipped intoplace in the slots in stand H. Power is then communicated to the drivingmechanism. At the first step in the operation of rolling, the wedge-baris thrust inward,'and the lower roll is thereby elevated. When saidlower roll has attained its maximum height the wedge-bar is drawn backand the roll allowed to drop. The upper roll is then forced downward bymeans of the screws until the space between the two rolls is taken up.The wedge-bar is then again brought into play, and the lower roll forcedby degrees to its maximum height, and then dropped,and the upper rolllowered in the manner already described. This alternate movement of thetwo rolls is continued until the ingot has' been rolled out into a sheetof the desired dimensions.

It will be observed that the movement of the upper roll is solely forthe purpose of taking up the space left vacant by the dropping ofthelower roll.

Now, the particular advantage of this construction and mode of operationis that it equalizes and distributes the strain upon-the machine and itsdriving mechanism. This it accomplishes in the following manner, to wit:The working-necks of the rolls are connected in the ordinary manner, bywabblers with the driving-pinions. Now, these pinions, in order to workto greatest advantage when theingot nearly done, must be of the same ornearly the same diameter as the rolls, and this because only in that waycan the pinion-shafts, the wabblers, and the rolls work in parallelplanes when theingotis being finished. Now, if only one of the rolls isgiven vertical movement, the wabbler, pinionshaft, and fixed roll mustbe in alignment, while the wabbler of the movable roll must necessarilybe, at the beginning of the operation, at considerable angle tothe-planes of said roll and its driving-pinion. The consequence of thisis that at the beginning of the operation an immense strain is broughtupon the mechanism of the upperroll, and great loss of power and wearand breakage of said mechanism are the necessary consequence. Now, byconstructing the machine so that each of the rolls may move vertically,and by operating them as described, I am enabled to begin the rollingwith both wabblers at a slight angle to the planes of their respectiverolls and pinions. As the operation proceeds, the upper wabblerisgradually brought nearer and nearer to the plane of its roll and pinion,While the lower wabbler is alternately at an angle with and coincidentwith the plane of its roll and pinion. The consequence is that at alltimes the strain is distributed, and the wear and tear and breakage,aswell as the loss of power, are largely decreased. Practically, by thischange in construction, I am onabled to save about two dollars upon eachton of metal treated.

As soon as the metal assumes an elliptic form, or enlarges upon themandrel during the operation, a stream of water should be caused to flowbetween its interior surface and the surface of. the mandrel, in orderto remove the scale from its surface and to keep down the temperature ofthemandrelf By this means the mandrel may be kept sufficiently cold forordinary work during the rolling operation; but in some cases, whereheavy work is to be produced, it may be necessary to change the mandrel,which may be readilyvdone, and a cool mandrel may beiuserted and thepressure again applied and the operation of therolls continued until theband is finished.

In the manufacture of heavy plates and sheets the use of the two-highmill is preferable, asit would require great power to work heavy ingotson the three-high mill on account of the continual bending action whichtakes place in the metal when subjected to this process of rolling; butwhenlighter sheets and plates are to beproduced the three-high mill ispreferable, as the reducing action is faster, and the continuous bendingaction removes the scale and cleanses the surface of the metal.

My machine is especially adapted to the manufacture of steel skelps fortubing, and also for steels for structural and all other purposeswherein it is necessary or desirable to secure long lengths in thematerial.

When it is desired toproduce polished sheets, plates, hoops, or bands,the ingot is treated as before described until it is reduced to acontinuous band of the desired thickness. The mandrel is then withdrawnand the band is taken from the machine previous to cutting. This bandmay then be doubled overuntil it is in a convenient shape to handle, andconveyed to the pickling-vats andpickled. It is then washed to removethe acid from its surface, and afterward conveyed back to the machine,inserted between the housings, the mandrel is forced into position andlocked, and the band rolled cold until the metal is in thedesiredcondition.

It will be noticed that in this specification I have used theterm ingotiron. Wherever the same occurs I wish to be understood as havingreference to aningot made bya fluid process-such as the Bessemer oropen-hearth process--which ingot, when heated to a. brightredtemperature, and then plunged into cold water, will not harden, ascontradistinguished from a steel ingot, whichwill harden when sotreated. The term ingot iron, as employed by me, is that which has beenadopted and defined, as before specified, by an international commission of metallurgical experts appointed by the technical societies oftheUnited States, England, France, Germany, and Sweden. Where the wordin got occurs in this specification it has no reference whatever tocast-iron ingots.

The advantages of my machine over those ordinarily used are: First, themetal is always kept in the bite of the rolls from the commencement ofthe rolling operation, and there is'an entire absence of the suddenshock,jar, and strain which come upon the ordinary mill as the metalenters and leaves the rolls at each succeeding pass; secondly, thestrain comes evenly and gradually upon the mechanism, and backlashing,which is so destructive to the ordinary mill, is entirely avoided;thirdly, a high rate of speed cannot be had in'the use of the ordinarymill, on account of the sudden jars, shocks, and backlash to which it issubjected butmy improved appara tus may be worked at a high rate ofspeed,

the mill running to advantage at a speed of from oneh-undred to onehundred andfifty revolutions per minute, whereas the ordinary millcannot be run over forty revolutions to advantage; fourthly, my processis automatic as far as therolling is concerned, and a great saving iseffected in the. cost of skilled labor for that purpose; fifthly, theingots may be rolled into sheets or plates at one heat, thus saving. thecost of fuel and the labor for reheating, and the loss of metal whichtakes place during the reheating operation; sixthly, by using ingots ofa tubular or hollow cylin-. drical form they may be readily rolled overto secure a uniform heat in the heating-furnace,

me to effect a saving of from ten to fifteen per cent. of waste, whichtakes place in cutting sheetsor plates to length which are produced bythe old method; ninthly, a better and more uniform quality of metal isproduced, because it may be heated more uniformly, sealed-morethoroughly, rolled more uniformly, and finished at a higher temperaturetenthly, longer sheets or plates may be produced for structural andother purposes than by the use of the ordinary process of manufacture.

I am aware that it has been proposed to roll cylindrieal piles 'formedof sections of wrought-iron welded to each other into rails,

bands, tires, and sheets, anddonot claim the" same for the reason thatsuch a cylinder would not possess a homogeneous structure, owing to thedifferent sections so welded being necessarily made from different heatsby the puddling process, which can only make about five hundred poundsat a heat, whereas my ingotiron or ingot-steel,though each ingot weighedten tons,'would be made from one and the same heat, and be absolutelyhomogeneous throughout. Where large plates or wide sheets are to bemanufactured, such as my invention is designed to produce, the metalmust be homogeneous to prevent the warping, twisting, and buckling ofthe plate, which, if it occurred, would prevent the properoperationoftherolls. Consequentlyahomogeneous ingot is essential tothepraetice of my process.

Havingdescribed my invention,what I elai m, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The slotted clutch I, provided with recess in one side, and pin J,adapted to fit in said reeess'and into a like recess in the artieleclutched, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, with the neck of the roll 1), and the stand H,provided with slots R, of the ring M and plate N, substantially asdescribed, whereby the roll is looked in place, for the purpose setforth.

3. In a machine for rolling metals, wherein an open housing and aremovable roll and hearing are used, the combination of adjustablebalancing-rods, which, are provided with stop-nuts to engage against thelower portion of the housings, with the removable roll and its bearings,whereby the upward pressure upon the removable roll and bearing isrelieved at the point where they are to be removed through the enlargedopening ot'the' housing, substantially as herein set forth.

JACOB REESE. Witnesses:

FRANK M. REESE, JAMES H. POR'IE.

